Melted By The Vampires: A Paranormal Menage Romance (5 page)

Brenda had told me this building was where all official government business was conducted, and where all Darkness Coven spies were trained, and where Abbott and Daniel held meetings with their council members and advisors.

The building my apartment was in was primarily used for residential purposes. Abbot and Daniel each had a penthouse on the floor above me, but other than them, I had no clue who my neighbors were. Brenda hadn't said who shared the thirty-ninth floor with me, if anyone, and who lived in all the floors below, and I hadn't asked.

Far below me, shiny cars wound their way through the city streets, which could get a bit congested at times, though not often. From what I'd been able to see at a distance, all the cars were brand-new, which didn't surprise me. Brenda had mentioned one day that almost as soon as the city had been built, residents started manufacturing cars at several plants to the east of the skyscrapers.

It had been Abbott's idea, to accomplish two goals at once. For one, it provided the city's residents with jobs and purpose, something Brenda said that many people needed, being that most vampires only needed to sleep an hour or two a day.

This had been the same with The Saints, I had remembered, so this was at least one way the two groups were alike. For another thing, the manufacture of cars increased the city's wealth, which Brenda had seemed to heartily approve of.

“No one wants to live in a shantytown like those others," she'd said. "What little they have, they've stolen. Not a right way to live."

She hadn't elaborated, and I hadn't asked, but I got the feeling that the "others" she'd been referring to had been The Saints, in their town of Saint Dedrick. And though I hated to admit it, accusing them of theft sounded about right. Many of them had been thieves back during the time when I'd dated Clark. I hadn't liked it, but he'd insisted it was necessary. Something about how stealing from other groups of vampires wasn't wrong because the ends justified the means, or something similar.

I had to admit, grudgingly, that no matter how evil his and Daniel's coven of vampires was, Abbott's idea to get the city started in manufacturing cars for the good of everyone struck me as a fairly noble one. It seemed to fit perfectly with the name of New Detroit, too, since the original Detroit had once been the vehicle manufacturing capitol of the world. Although from what I remembered, it had lost that title long before the nuclear blast.

Once Brenda had said something in passing about the human residents of Chicago, which was apparently still called just plain Chicago, being none too pleased about New Detroit and the new manufacturing going on. It seemed that in the years since the nuclear blast,
they
had become the biggest manufacturing city when it came to cars, and they resented the competition. I figured they'd probably have to learn how to live with it, though. Either that, or attempt to go toe-to-toe with a murderous vampire coven.

I remained out on the balcony, just looking down at the ant-sized cars, for a long while, until I suddenly realized my feet were freezing, and one of them in particular. A glance at my feet told me that somehow, I was still only wearing one sock. And the day certainly wasn't warm, only in the upper fifties. It crossed my mind that maybe Daniel was right. Maybe my brains were still half-scrambled from being frozen and thawed.

As usual, I didn't sleep well that night, tossing and turning. Except that on this night, my insomnia problem seemed to even be a bit worse than usual. Three times, I awoke after dreaming about Daniel, Abbott, and their handsome faces, and their long, lean, muscular bodies.

In the third dream, they were both holding me at once, taking turns kissing me, with their hands freely exploring my naked body. But almost as soon as this dream had begun, it morphed sickeningly into the scene when I'd found all my coven members dead, drained of all blood and their throats ripped out. I awoke from this third dream, though maybe
nightmare
would have been a better description, in a cold sweat, trembling, and at least an hour went by before I was finally able to fall asleep again.

The next day dawned clear and cold, and I took my steaming mug of coffee out on the balcony, knowing that this would be the day that the sexual parts of my dreams would likely come true. While I found this thought revolting, at the same time, I couldn't stop butterflies from swarming in my stomach.

*

Around noon, Brenda came up to my apartment bearing a basketful of clean laundry, including several pairs of socks, and also a duffel bag containing some of my shoes.

After telling me what was in it, she handed me the bag with a wary eye. "Are we well past the shoe-throwing stage?"

I had to work hard not to roll my eyes like a teenager. "Yes. I think
we
are."

I couldn't help but wish that I'd been assigned a warmer laundry-and-fresh-food-bringer than Brenda, though I supposed I should be grateful that fresh laundry and food was even brought by anyone at all.

When I first awoke in the hospital, and had gathered that Detrick’s and my plan had indeed worked, and that I'd presumably been found and thawed by the "other" vampires, I'd been slightly afraid that I might have to endure some serious mistreatment before I'd get a chance to kill my targets. After all, what I’d ever heard about them was that they were unspeakably cruel, more like wild monsters than any kind of vampires.

Now, after having met Daniel and Abbott, I could clearly see that this wasn't exactly the case.
Yet, anyway
, I told myself. I realized that they might just be the type of monsters that could go from zero to evil within a second. I figured that anyone who could kill an entire coven of innocent "good" witches almost had to be like that.

Whether I was able to resist enjoying our physical intimacy or not, I knew I was going to have to be on guard at all times around Daniel and Abbott until I was able to kill them, for whatever good being "on guard" would do me without my supernatural powers.

I'd tried to force my powers to return that morning, attempting to shoot silvery beams of light at nearly every object in my apartment. I'd had no success, though. For a quick second, I thought that my light trick had finally worked when I'd tried to shoot a beam of light at a potted fern, but then I'd realized that the flash of light I'd seen had only been the reflection of my silver bracelet on the brass planter that the fern was sitting in.

Eventually, I'd given up. I still felt like my powers
would
return; it was just a matter of time. I decided I would not try to force things anymore, or at least not force them as hard. I'd just spend a minute or two each day "testing" to see if my powers had returned. In the meantime, I'd just have to resign myself to sharing a bed with Abbott and Daniel, come what may.

The two of them showed up at my apartment exactly at eight, and this time, Daniel knocked on my door, much less forcefully than Abbott had.  With a snort on my way to the door, I could just tell it was him who'd knocked, and I thought how this less-aggressive manner of knocking displayed the "people person" skills that he seemed to be proud of.

I was having a bit of a hard time getting over the fact that he was a people person who murdered people, seemingly for no good reason. I never had been able to think of a possible motive for the murders of all my coven members, and Clark and Dedrick hadn't, either. Other than we'd all just kind of figured that the vampires who'd done it had done it simply for fun.

When I opened the door, which had been unlocked, Daniel was closest to it, leaning against the frame, confirming my thinking that he'd been the knocker.

He gave me one of his small, vaguely sly-looking smiles, at the same time straightening up from the door frame and extending a single rose. "For you."

With a blend of white and red petals, the rose was unlike any I'd ever seen before. It was perfectly unique. Gorgeous. Exquisite. But it was also a rose from a wolf in sheep's clothing, of that I was certain, no matter how handsome, and sexy, and spell-inducing that wolf was. This was what I was going to have to be "on guard" about, I suddenly realized.

Committed to spending the night acting like a regular, non-assassin, frozen woman, I took the rose from Daniel, returning his little smile. "Thank you. It's beautiful."

"Exactly like you. Although
flawless
might better describe you."

I thought I heard Abbott, who was standing just a little ways behind and to the side of Daniel, made some very soft sound resembling a groan, like maybe a groan of disgust or derision directed at Daniel for some reason.

Immediately after, he lifted two covered plates he held, gaze on me. "May we come in already? I imagine you're ready to eat."

For some reason, his stern, businesslike demeanor, and his semi-interruption of Daniel complimenting me, rankled me for some reason, and I stepped aside, gesturing to the interior of the apartment.

"By all means, please come in, both of you. If Abbott wants this evening to be all business, then that's the way it shall be.”

Daniel stepped inside, pausing beside me and speaking in a stage whisper. "Just remember, I'm the people person. I'm nicer. So, stick closer to me tonight.
He's
been known to bite on occasion. And I do mean metaphorically, but we
are
vampires, so...I guess, literally as well."

Surprising myself, I laughed; a brief chuckle, just for second or two, but enough to make me think that my acting job that evening might not be such a tough one. And also making me think that I was a terrible human being for laughing at a joke made by the man who'd killed, or had at least helped to kill, in some way, the only real family I'd ever known.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, obviously pleased that he'd gotten a chuckle out of me, Daniel strolled on into the apartment. Abbott entered and strode right by me without so much as a glance.

Somewhat to my chagrin, they both looked even more handsome than they had the day before, which I wouldn't have thought possible. Although that had been before I'd seen them in dress pants and collared Oxford shirts, which they both wore with the top button undone, allowing me tantalizing peeks at their chiseled chests.

I was a little more dressed up than I'd been the day before, as well, wearing a knee-length navy blue sheath dress with a neckline that was somewhat low-cut, though not outright plunging. I'd decided on this fairly conservative look after trying on two other dresses from my closet, not really sure at all what kind of look I should be going for.

The first dress I'd tried on, a flower-print one with a below-the-knee hem, had seemed a bit frumpy, while the second, a short red one with a neckline that was definitely plunging, had seemed far too sexy. Especially since I couldn't quite decide if my goal was to get Daniel and Abbott very worked up before we all entered my bedroom or not.

My footwear was also a bit dressier than what I'd been sporting the day before. Instead of just a single sock, I was now wearing a pair of navy blue ballet flats that Brenda had returned to me. She'd also returned a pair of heels, but like the red dress, they'd seemed far too sexy.

While Abbott took the two covered plates out to the kitchen, Daniel escorted me into the dining room and seated me, then said he'd be right back. "I'll get a vase for your rose, and some glasses for our drinks. Just one minute."

I saw that under one arm, he held a bottle of white wine and another bottle of some amber liquid, maybe whiskey. I wondered just exactly how drunk he and Abbott were planning on getting me. I wasn't going to allow that to happen, though. I'd have a glass or two of wine, but I was determined to remain more or less "on guard" at all times. Something told me that it was going to be all too easy to fall "off-guard" that evening, even without alcohol.

Alone in the dining room, I allowed myself to relax a little, noticing little details about the room that I hadn't before, because I'd never eaten in the dining room before. Since being thawed, I'd only ever eaten by myself, and the spacious dining room had seemed a bit too formal for just a meal for one. An island in the kitchen had seemed more suitable for my casual meals.

Above a long, polished oak table in the dining room, a glittering crystal chandelier hung suspended by a shiny brass fixture, and a few tall floor lamps in the room were polished brass as well. Two oil paintings that flanked a single enormous, wide window on the east wall added to the room's air of elegant sophistication. Making for an interesting juxtaposition, one of the paintings was a pastoral scene with lots of greens and blues, and the other was a cityscape, New Detroit itself by the looks of it.